Grandmaster Yip Kin (葉堅), was born in the year 1883 in a small village known as Nga Wu or Ya Wu near Poon Yu or Panyu, Guangzhou, China. He started off as a farmer in his village before learning martial arts. Majority of the population in the Ya Wu village carries the same surname which is Cho and also Yip. The Cho Ga or (Cho family in English) names were famous for practicing the art of Choy Lay Fut and Hung Gar Kuen. Yip Kin learnt his martial arts from Master Cho Fei Hung. In ancient history times, the Cho family learned Kung Fu to become “Moh Gui Yan” also known as Kung Fu Scholars. The Cho Ga invited many different Masters around China to teach them Kung Fu which includes Hung Suen Wing Chun or Ban Chung Wing Chun in order to be skillful so they can be accepted as Kung Fu scholars.
In the beginning, Grandmaster Yip Kin’s martial art is actually known as Ban Chung Shaolin which is a combination of Choy Lay Fut and Hung Gar Kuen and it’s not Wing Chun. Grandmaster Yip Kin was a member of the Red Boat Chinese Opera group that travelled around China and he was able to pick up his martial art techniques and skills in many different areas, learning different types of weapons and other various forms but mainly all this is coming from the art of Hung Kuen. Some of the different martial arts that Yip Kin learned are listed in the below, it includes: Sai Fa Kuen, Dai Fa Kuen, Plum Flower Staff (楊梅棒), Rope and Weight (飛鉈), 3 Section Staff (三節棍), Twin Willow Leaf Broadswords (柳葉雙刀), Bench (黄頭櫈), 5, 7 and 9 section iron whip (五、七、九節鞭), Kwan Dao (春秋大刀), Spear (梅花槍), Subdue the Tiger Trident (伏虎大耙), Broadsword and Rattan Shield(单刀籐牌), all this consist of martial arts from Hung Kuen.
All the techniques and forms are very long; consisting of 360 steps to master it which is not available in Wing Chun. Hung Kuen and Wing Chun are totally different. Comparing both arts, Wing Chun attack and defense at the same time, with simplicity, speed, efficiency and economical of movement, but Yip Kin’s Wing Choon Kuen system has large movements of footwork, wide stances, stiff hand movements, and it also defends before it attacks. Origin of Wing Chun does not have this method at all. Wing Chun is about smoothness and softness of flow but ending with fast and efficient counter-attack.
After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, in 1918, Yip Kin migrated to Malaysia. He became a labor in the minefield and later was employed by a shipping company as a foreman. In the mid 40s, Yip Kin became a volunteer kung fu instructor. He combined the Weng Chun kung fu techniques with the other styles he had learnt from different kung fu masters and called it the Malaysian Wing Choon Kungfu. He then settled down and stayed there for the rest of his life where his disciples teach the modified version of his martial arts. The Yip Kin Wing Choon Kuen system includes Choy Lay Fut, Hung Kuen and modified Wing Chun and was taught throughout the years after Yip Kin passed away.
According to the development of Poon Yu Wing Chun, there were some more Wing Chun styles developed in Malaysia. One of them is the Ban Chung Wing Choon. The Ban Chung Wing Choon and Yip Kin Wing Choon style in Malaysia are quite different though both of them claimed their techniques originated from the late Grandmaster So Kai Ming of Poon Yu. Obviously, it was because the late Grandmaster Yip Kin adds in some sets of other styles that he had learnt before and Ban Chung Wing Choon did not.
In the beginning, Grandmaster Yip Kin’s martial art is actually known as Ban Chung Shaolin which is a combination of Choy Lay Fut and Hung Gar Kuen and it’s not Wing Chun. Grandmaster Yip Kin was a member of the Red Boat Chinese Opera group that travelled around China and he was able to pick up his martial art techniques and skills in many different areas, learning different types of weapons and other various forms but mainly all this is coming from the art of Hung Kuen. Some of the different martial arts that Yip Kin learned are listed in the below, it includes: Sai Fa Kuen, Dai Fa Kuen, Plum Flower Staff (楊梅棒), Rope and Weight (飛鉈), 3 Section Staff (三節棍), Twin Willow Leaf Broadswords (柳葉雙刀), Bench (黄頭櫈), 5, 7 and 9 section iron whip (五、七、九節鞭), Kwan Dao (春秋大刀), Spear (梅花槍), Subdue the Tiger Trident (伏虎大耙), Broadsword and Rattan Shield(单刀籐牌), all this consist of martial arts from Hung Kuen.
All the techniques and forms are very long; consisting of 360 steps to master it which is not available in Wing Chun. Hung Kuen and Wing Chun are totally different. Comparing both arts, Wing Chun attack and defense at the same time, with simplicity, speed, efficiency and economical of movement, but Yip Kin’s Wing Choon Kuen system has large movements of footwork, wide stances, stiff hand movements, and it also defends before it attacks. Origin of Wing Chun does not have this method at all. Wing Chun is about smoothness and softness of flow but ending with fast and efficient counter-attack.
After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, in 1918, Yip Kin migrated to Malaysia. He became a labor in the minefield and later was employed by a shipping company as a foreman. In the mid 40s, Yip Kin became a volunteer kung fu instructor. He combined the Weng Chun kung fu techniques with the other styles he had learnt from different kung fu masters and called it the Malaysian Wing Choon Kungfu. He then settled down and stayed there for the rest of his life where his disciples teach the modified version of his martial arts. The Yip Kin Wing Choon Kuen system includes Choy Lay Fut, Hung Kuen and modified Wing Chun and was taught throughout the years after Yip Kin passed away.
According to the development of Poon Yu Wing Chun, there were some more Wing Chun styles developed in Malaysia. One of them is the Ban Chung Wing Choon. The Ban Chung Wing Choon and Yip Kin Wing Choon style in Malaysia are quite different though both of them claimed their techniques originated from the late Grandmaster So Kai Ming of Poon Yu. Obviously, it was because the late Grandmaster Yip Kin adds in some sets of other styles that he had learnt before and Ban Chung Wing Choon did not.
叶信坚是叶坚詠春拳的创办人。叶坚师出生于清朝，1883年。叶坚师祖是从一位叫苏继明的武师习永春拳。苏开明是个反清者，经常参与反清活动。苏开明居住于广东白云山附近的人和镇。他曾拜过四位拳师学艺。
除了苏明以外，叶坚师祖在他行走中国期间，也从其他詠春拳师傅和其他门派师傅习武。1918年，随着清朝的灭亡，当时35岁的叶坚师祖移民至马来亚（现为马来西亚），定居于雪兰莪州。1926年,43岁的他开班传授武艺。经过43年的教拳经历，叶坚师祖在1968年去世，享年85岁。
此支流一直在馬來西亚自稱是詠春拳派,其實源自紅船戲班(又稱班中),但經查証,葉堅全名葉信堅,生於廣東番禺縣雅湖曹家祠,師承曹飛鴻.雅湖為大多數姓曹氏,也有几家人姓葉氏,葉堅不是打死人南下大馬,他是當地一位農夫.
曹家因祖宗數代為武举人,所从邀請各門派武師教學,有蔡李佛,班中少林(紅船的老架洪拳),班中永春,但曹飛鴻祇把紅船老架洪拳教給葉堅,如三百六十式花拳,掺了蔡李佛平拳,少林洪拳架式,梅花拳合拼).後葉堅技成,被曹飛鴻训回雅湖葉家村立武館,此武館到現還保留至今.
回說这一系班中少林,遠離純正詠春拳原理,这一系和傳統南少林拳一样,硬橋硬馬,手法一手先出,一手後出,手法,馬法,步法不能配合及至乱.但这家野技法多是玩雜技,但他们一直魚目混珠,欺騙大衆,說他们是詠春一脈,連过手都不會,怎叫詠春,最历害偷别武館怎教,還抄港式詠春手法与黏手法,制服,跟自跨他们是一流永春拳,(查實九流貨仔!!!) ,这班人一知半解義粗淺拳理,好笑他们講中心線原理,為独他们最历害!!連正身馬与直衝拳都錯,丢面呀!誤導子弟.
